Father and son fraudsters conned 50 victims out of more than £5million and used the proceeds to live a life of luxury, buying Aston Martins and Lamborghinis and sunning themselves on yachts.

Keith Wharton and his son Lee used fraudulent investment schemes to con their victims out of their life savings.

Wharton, 60, was the ringleader in a series of frauds - including one which involved potential investors flying out to Panama for a seminar entitled 'Secrets of the Super Rich'.

Jailing the gang to a total of 34 years, a judge told the Whartons: "You cheated people out of their money which was hard earned.

You have left behind a trail of personal and financial ruin while you sunned yourselves on your yachts in SpainJudge Guy Kearl

"You have left behind a trail of personal and financial ruin while you sunned yourselves on your yachts in Spain or drove Aston Martins, Lamborghinis or Maseratis."

Keith Wharton masterminded the scams, which took place over an eight year period.

In one scam, he managed to convince more than 30 people to put £2.8m in a land scheme based in Panama after claiming to be a commercial property 'guru' and a billionaire.

He told those who invested their money in land through a syndicate that they could double their money within 12 months.

Prosecutor Andrew Haslam told Leeds Crown Court: "None of them received any return on their investment. Indeed, nobody even received their investment back. None of it went to buy land in Panama. Instead, Keith and LeeWharton used it to fund their lavish lifestyles."

The court heard one victim, a piano teacher from London, invested £230,000 in the scheme and lost everything.

Wharton was helped in the deception by Leeds-based solicitor Stephen Pickard, who "put up a barrier" to stop investors getting their money back.

Pickard - described by the sentencing judge as Wharton's 'right hand man' - threatened victims with legal action if they continued to try to contact Wharton to get their money back.

Wharton also led other frauds with the help of financial adviser Simon Kippax.

Wharton, 60, was the ringleader in a series of frauds, including one which involved potential investors flying out to Panama (file picture)Credit:
Alamy

Kippax introduced Michael Massingberd, a retired businessman from Yorkshire, to Wharton in 2009 with the promise that he would be offered 100 per cent protection on an investment that would guarantee him a 300 per cent return in just 12 weeks.

The court heard Mr Massingberd also knew Pickard well as he worked for a well-regarded local firm of solicitors. Mr Massingberd lost £1.1m on his investment in the scheme.

In another offence Wharton duped victim Gary Gordon to invest in a scheme after convincing him he had worked for Merrill Lynch, the major wealth management firm based in New York.

Mr Gordon's money was paid into an account controlled by Wharton's son.

Wharton also headed other illegal investment schemes in which investors lost sums totalling £1.7m and £563,000.

Judge Guy Kearl, QC, said many of the victims had been left in poverty as a result of the offending.

Wharton, of Leeds, was jailed for 12 years after pleading guilty to five offences of fraud by false representation.

Lee Wharton, 34, was jailed for seven years for concealing criminal property.

Pickard, 66, of Harrogate, was jailed for eight years for two offences of fraud by false representation and concealing criminal property and Kippax, 52, of Harrogate, was jailed for seven years for fraud by false representation and making a false statement.